


melodies and memories

by wreckingtomlinson



Series: breath of the wild AU [1]
Category: One Direction (Band), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe, Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Enemies to Lovers, Fluff and Angst, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Pining, i'm not kidding the angst is heavy, mostly sad though i'm sorry, sad but sort of maybe hopeful ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-31
Updated: 2018-08-31
Packaged: 2019-07-03 09:02:03
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 19,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15815718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wreckingtomlinson/pseuds/wreckingtomlinson
Summary: "Oh, Zayn, for once, will you just listen?" Perrie shouts. "You say you have no weaknesses, but if you keep this up, he will become yours."“Well, I think it’s a little too fucking late for that.”~Or, Zayn is the greatest warrior of his kind, Louis won’t shut up, and wartime is never a good time to fall in love.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> the full author's notes are coming after author reveals, but for now i'll just link [this](https://www.zeldadungeon.net/breath-of-the-wild-interactive-map/) right here for reference.

_**Glossary** _

**Divine** **Beasts** : The Divine Beasts are giant mechanical automatons created over 10,000 years ago to fight the dark being known as Ganon. There are four of them: [Vah Medoh](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Vah_Medoh), which resembles a bird; Vah Ruta, which resembles an elephant; Vah Rudania, which resembles a salamander; and Vah Naboris, which resembles a camel. The one most relevant to this story will be Vah Medoh. After being victorious in the war 10,000 years ago, the Divine Beasts were lost to time, and only recently unearthed by archaeologists. It’s Princess Perrie’s hope that the Divine Beasts can be used to defeat Ganon again, just like they were thousands of years ago.

[Ganon](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Ganon#The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild): the near-immortal personification of evil who rises every so often to try to conquer the land of Hyrule. Traditionally, he is always defeated by a princess who is a descendant of the Goddess Hylia, and a warrior who bears the sword that seals the darkness (also known as the Master Sword).

[Gerudo](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Gerudo#The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild): a race from the Gerudo Desert comprised almost entirely of females. The character Dua is based on looks like [this](http://pm1.narvii.com/6460/942f52d2e9001117967291541d542c6ed1d09481_00.jpg).

[Goron](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Goron#The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild): a race of people from the Eldin region who live at the base of a volcano who are said to resemble boulders. The character Ed is based on looks like [this](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cJImlVu_o7M/maxresdefault.jpg).

 **Hylia** : the Goddess that Hylians worship

 **Hylians** : an elflike race named after the Goddess Hylia, whom they worship. 

 **Hyrule** : the country where this story takes place

[Rito](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Rito#The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild): a birdlike race of people from the Tabantha region. The character Zayn is based on looks like [this](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3T0-olhTvtM/maxresdefault.jpg), and the character Elder Brannan is based on looks like [this](https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/zelda/images/2/22/Breath_of_the_Wild_Rito_Chieftain_Elder_Kaneli_%28Rito_Village%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20170421171010).

[Zora](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Zora#The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild): a fishlike race from the Lanayru region. The character Gemma is based on looks like [this](https://steamusercontent-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/856109164095486159/A5B5819A721381A74E20D3B7FE7EB43914607DA6/).

~

The first time Zayn hears the princess say his name is when he’s eavesdropping.

Bow in hand and quiver strapped to his back, he returns from a morning of training at the Flight Range. Below him, Rito Village sprawls out around the central rock spire, the main staircase spiraling around the rock with small wooden homes jutting out in various places. At the top, closest to the spire’s peak, is Elder Brannan’s nest, where a curious assortment of people stand. Zayn tucks his wings closer to his body and dips lower.

A pair of men in silver armor stand at attention, halberds in hand. Their shields bear the crest of the Hylian royal family, and between them stands Princess Perrie, the only daughter of the king.

“What in Hylia’s name are they doing here?” Zayn wonders aloud. Curious as he is, he doesn’t think Elder Brannan would take too well to Zayn’s swooping in uninvited, so he finds a pine tree to perch in and listen.

“…must be done about the Calamity,” Princess Perrie is saying. “Several years ago, our archaeologists unearthed the Divine Beasts of old, along with hundreds of Guardians. And with the growing threat of Ganon rising, we think those are our best chances of defeating him.”

“The Divine Beasts, you say?” Elder Brannan says. Zayn can’t see the village’s leader from here, but he knows he’s probably folding his great white wings in front of himself as he considers the princess’s words. “And how do you plan on finding pilots for these Divine Beasts?”

“Well, that’s actually the reason I came to visit you, Elder Brannan.” Perrie clears her throat. “We have heard rumors of a great Rito warrior, said to be one of the greatest archers of all time. I’ve been told his name is…Zayn, I believe.”

Zayn nearly falls out of the tree at that. She’s heard of his prowess in the air! Though he knows he has quite a reputation among the Rito, he’s pleasantly surprised to know that word of his achievements has spread throughout Hyrule.

Elder Brannan coos softly in thought. “And you’ve come to ask for his help.”

“I have. It’s a role of great honor,” Perrie explains, “and would involve not only piloting the one we’ve named Vah Medoh, but working closely with the Hero of Hyrule to ensure the Calamity is sealed away.”

Zayn almost falls out of the tree for a second time. Work closely with the Hero? He scoffs at that. He doesn’t need to work with anybody for this. Give him the controls and he’ll take Ganon out himself.

“I can’t answer for Zayn, but I can fetch him, if you’d like to speak to him yourself.”

“I would appreciate that very much, thank you.”

“Please, come with me. If he isn’t at home, he may be training at the Flight Range.”

That’s his cue to get the hell out of his tree. With a flap of his wings, he takes off, rushing to the Flight Range so he can ensure he just happens to be showing off his abilities when the princess arrives.

His timing is perfect, as he notices Perrie and her entourage climb up the steps to the small shelter at the top of the cliffs. He shoots a few more arrows, hitting the bullseyes almost lazily, before gripping his bow and flying up to the landing platform just outside the shelter. “Princess Perrie. To what do I owe this pleasure?” he greets her.

She beams at him. “Your skill with a bow is just as I’ve heard,” she gushes. “Truly impressive.”

Impressive? Has she never seen _anyone_ shoot? The Hyrulean army must employ poor archers if his half-assed bullseyes were _impressive_ to her. But Zayn smiles graciously and thanks her. “You’ve heard about me, then?”

“We have indeed. The Rito messengers have been spreading tales of your achievements everywhere they go, as I’m sure you’re aware. I’ve come with a proposal.”

“A proposal? We hardly know each other.” Zayn smiles to himself at his own joke, but Perrie doesn’t laugh.

“You may have heard the archaeologists have discovered the Divine Beasts from ages ago,” she says. “I’ve come to ask if you would pilot Vah Medoh.”

Zayn pretends to be surprised by this news. “You would ask me?”

“Well, it would only be logical to ask the finest archer in Hyrule,” Perrie says with a smile.

She seems terribly sincere. Zayn decides to make her sweat, just a little. “I’m not sure, Princess. It seems like an awful lot of responsibility.”

“It is, but it’s a great honor,” she stresses. “And you wouldn’t be alone, either. I’m also seeking out the help of three others, to pilot the other Divine Beasts. You would be working with them, along with the Hylian hero of legend, of course.”

“The hero of legend,” Zayn repeats, doing his best to keep the disdain out of his voice. “How…interesting.”

“He’s highly skilled, you know. It’s been said he’s been besting adults in combat since he was seven years old! And of course, he wields the sword that seals the darkness.”

“So if he has the sword, what is my role in this?”

“Zayn!” Elder Brannan chides. “You ask too many questions.”

“No, no, he’s right to ask. It’s quite an undertaking.” Perrie clears her throat. “Each of the Divine Beasts emits a destructive light. Our researchers are still trying to determine the exact qualities of this light, but coupled with the power of the sword that seals the darkness, it’s the surest way to defeat Ganon with as few casualties as possible.”

Zayn pretends to consider it. As disappointed as he is that Perrie didn’t offer to let him take this on solo after his _truly_ _impressive_ display, he knows he’s already made up his mind. He’d have to have feathers in his brain to say no. “I accept.”

Perrie clasps her hands together delightedly. “Yes! Oh, thank you, Zayn, for helping Hyrule in its hour of need. I must go and speak with the other Champions, but—”

“Champions?” Zayn interrupts.

“Oh, yes. That was the name I was planning to give the pilots of the Divine Beasts. Like…like a team name,” she says with a grin.

Oh, Goddess, help him. “That sounds delightful,” he says, faking a smile.

“It will be! I’ll be needing you at Hyrule Castle for the appointment ceremony. I should send word within two weeks’ time—I need to go to the desert and speak to the Gerudo chieftainess, but it shouldn’t be very long.”

Elder Brannan lets out a happy warble. “Such wonderful news!” he exclaims, spreading his wings. “We will wait eagerly to hear from you.” He and Zayn both bow, and Princess Perrie takes her leave, her guards trailing behind her.

The moment they’re out of earshot, Zayn crosses his wings and grumbles. “Me, playing support to the Hero of Hyrule,” he mutters sourly. “What a waste.”

“Not a waste, my child,” Elder Brannan corrects him. “This is an important role, Zayn. You may not be happy with it, but I think this will be good for you. You excel on your own—it’s time for you to learn how to excel with others. Just keep an open mind, will you?”

Zayn does his best to do just that, filling his days with even more training as he waits to hear from the princess. Exactly one week after Perrie’s visit, he receives a letter bearing her seal. He tears it open with gusto, unfurling the royal stationery to read the formal invitation.

**_IN CELEBRATION OF THE CHAMPIONS OF HYRULE_ **

_You are invited to a ceremony_

_Held at Hyrule Castle_

_To officially honor:_

_Princess Gemma Styles of the Zora_

_Lord Ed Sheeran of the Gorons_

_Lady Dua Lipa of the Gerudo_

_Master Zayn Malik of the Rito_

_NEXT SUNDAY at TWO O’CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON_

He scans the names of the other Champions, trying to remember if he’s heard anything about them. The only name that rings a bell is Ed Sheeran—Zayn’s sure he’s heard some of the Rito messengers talking about his singing ability, or something like that. Not that singing will be of any use fighting Ganon. He rolls up the invitation, only for another, smaller piece of parchment to slip out and flutter to the ground. This one is an invitation as well, but much less formal.

_Zayn,_

_I’m hoping you’ll join us a few hours before the official ceremony. I wish to hold a smaller, private ceremony to appoint the Hero of Hyrule, Louis Tomlinson, as my personal knight. As well, I believe it would be beneficial for all five of you to have the chance to meet each other before the ceremony, as you’ll be working together in the future. This ceremony is to take place at noon at the Sacred Grounds just outside of Castle Town._

_Warmly,_

_Princess Perrie_

Oh, great. Not only does he have to suffer through a stuffy formal ceremony, he has to endure a meet and greet with the hero, too? Grand. But he knows it’ll reflect poorly on him as well as his people if he declines, so he huffs and starts looking for his best scarf to wear.


	2. Chapter 2

Sunday comes three days later. Zayn leaves Rito Village early, dressed in his best red tunic and his favorite white scarf around his neck. Even Elder Brannan tells him he looks dignified.

He’s the first to arrive, naturally, touching down at the Sacred Grounds with half an hour to go until noon. It’s a curious place, not much more than a giant stone slab with the symbol of the Triforce carved into the surface surrounded by pillars that support nothing. A cobblestone path leads straight from here to the castle gates. He wonders if they use this place for all the knighting ceremonies, or if this is just another harebrained idea from the princess. Whatever the case, part of him hopes nobody else arrives too quickly. He perches atop one of the columns to wait, and that’s when he sees Ed Sheeran for the first time.

Ed’s fiery red hair can’t be missed, nor can the jaunty tune he sings as he lumbers down the path, his voice carrying out across the field. Zayn can’t tell exactly what the words are but it sounds something like “ _when I was six years old, I broke my leg_.” What an odd thing to sing about.

“You must be Zayn!” Ed exclaims from ten feet away, startling some birds in a nearby tree.

Zayn waits until Ed gets closer to answer that yes, he is in fact Zayn. “And you must be Ed.”

“The one and only.” Ed takes a little bow. “Did you like my song?”

“I don’t really get it, to be honest. Why would you write an entire song about breaking your leg?”

Ed laughs. “Well, the _entire_ song isn’t about the broken leg. It’s called ‘Castle On The Hill.’ Thought it would be fun to sing on the way to a real castle.”

“It’s not on a hill, so it doesn’t really count, does it?” Zayn says, just to be contrarian.

But Ed just laughs good-naturedly. “Guess you’re right. I’ll have to make a different version just about Hyrule Castle.”

Zayn just huffs in response, and Ed plops down with a heavy _thump_ that rattles the ground. After a few minutes, Ed speaks up again. “When do you think Gemma and Dua will get here?”

“Did someone say my name?” calls a soft voice from behind them, and Zayn turns his head to see Princess Gemma of the Zora walking across the field from the southeast.

“Gemma! Er—sorry, _Princess_ Gemma,” Ed corrects himself, quickly standing up and bowing.

“Oh please, you can just call me Gemma,” she tells him with a smile. Zayn takes note of the trident she carries, easily as tall as she is and adorned with teal and magenta gems. It looks delicate, but he knows not to underestimate Zora craftsmanship. It’s said they make the most beautiful weapons in Hyrule, and Zayn can understand why. The metal gleams silver, catching the light in a fascinating and deadly way. “And you must be Zayn,” she goes on, turning to him.

“Oh, yes, that would be me.” Zayn hops off the pillar to shake her hand.

“Hail, hail, the gang’s all here!” Ed exclaims.

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Dua isn’t here.”

“Actually, I am.” A dark-haired woman dressed in full Gerudo armor has appeared behind Zayn. When had she shown up? Her hair is gathered into a high ponytail, the gold plates of her armor glinting in the sun. “Pleased to meet you all at last.”

Zayn shakes her hand, not missing the fact that she’s easily six inches taller than him. “Looks like we’re all early,” she says.

“Good. The sooner we get this done, the better,” Zayn remarks.

Gemma gives him an incredulous look. “You’re not excited to meet Louis?”

Zayn shrugs. “Not particularly, if I’m honest. He sounds kind of like a jerk.”

“What has the princess told you about him?” Dua asks. “I haven’t met him yet either, but he seems like a skilled warrior.”

“Only because he has the sword that seals the darkness,” Zayn points out. “I bet he’s mediocre at best without it.”

“I don’t know. Princess Perrie he showed promise early on during his years at the Royal Guard Academy,” Ed says thoughtfully.

“So I’ve heard,” Zayn says dismissively. “I still think he’s—”

“Oh, wonderful, you’re all here!” Princess Perrie’s voice calls from a hundred yards down the path. Zayn can just make out her blue and white garb from here. He can’t see the person trailing behind her, but it has to be Louis. “I know it’s not noon yet, but would you mind if we started a bit early?”

“Not at all!” Ed exclaims. “The more time we have before the big ceremony, the better.”

The four of them drop to one knee as Perrie approaches the Sacred Grounds, and the knight behind her does the same.

“Oh, please, you don’t have to do that,” she tells them, motioning for them all to rise. “We’re all friends here. Or at least, I hope we will be.”

Friends. What a laughable thought. They’ll be colleagues at best, Zayn thinks, and with a little luck he won’t end up leaving this ragtag group.

“I’d like you all to meet Louis Tomlinson,” Perrie goes on, taking her knight by the arm and pulling him to stand in front of her.

So this is the Hero of Hyrule that he’s been hearing so much about. If Zayn’s being honest, he doesn’t look like very much at all, and he certainly doesn’t look like a knight. Zayn had been expecting bulging muscles, maybe, or a harsher face. Instead, Louis is sort of…small. He’s shorter than Zayn by at least two inches, with a compact build. His face is a contradiction, sharp cheekbones and thin lips set in a line balanced out by long, soft lashes and eyes like the fabled Zora Sapphire. He knows Hylians in general tend to have fairer, almost elfin features, but there’s something _else_ about Louis that Zayn can’t put a finger on. Maybe it’s a hero of legend thing.

The longer he stares at Louis, the more the feathers around his neck begin to puff up. In irritation, most likely. With an annoyed huff, he smooths them down, not missing the odd look Dua throws his way.

Louis steps forward, greeting Gemma first. Seconds later, he’s smiling and laughing, eyes crinkling up at the corners as Gemma tells him a story about her baby brother, before moving onto Dua, and then Ed. Zayn regards the entire scene with a sense of detachment. What’s the sense in getting attached to these people? They’ll probably all go their separate ways once their job is done anyway. So when Louis reaches him last, Zayn doesn’t offer his hand.

“So you’re the Hero of Hyrule,” he says with a tilt of his head. “You’re not what I expected.”

Louis doesn’t smile or offer his hand either. “You must be Zayn.”

“Obviously.”

Louis looks him up and down, face impassive. “You’re not what I expected either.” And with that, Louis turns on his heel, going back to stand at Perrie’s side. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? Zayn shakes his head and huffs.

The princess clasps her hands in front of her. “So I, er, haven’t really conducted a ceremony like this before, but it’ll be symbolic rather than official. You know? How about—Louis, let’s stand in the middle and everyone else make a semicircle, or something like that?”

There’s a bit of shuffling around before everyone finds their positions, Louis dropping to one knee in the center of the Triforce logo etched into the stone under his feet. Perrie holds her hand out over Louis’ head, takes a deep breath, and begins to speak.

“Louis, Hero of Hyrule, bearer of the sword that seals the darkness. I hereby appoint you as my personal knight and protector. May Hylia watch over you and protect you…”

Zayn rolls his eyes, leaning in to mutter to Ed. “This is overkill.”

Ed shrugs. “I thought this was normal when the princess appoints a personal knight.”

“It’s not,” Gemma pipes up. “I don’t think it’s for Louis as much as it is for her, though. She’s been trying to get in touch with her sealing power.”

“Oh, so she’s got sealing power now, too?” Zayn rolls his eyes.

“You know the legends, right?” Ed says. “In every age, there’s not only a hero. There’s also a princess with the blood of the Goddess in her veins. They’ve always had to work together to seal the darkness away. It couldn’t be done with only one of them.”

“So then what do they need us for?” Zayn wonders aloud. “Sounds like they’ll have it under control.”

“Well, that’s the thing,” Dua says, lowering her voice. “Her sealing power hasn’t exactly…awoken yet, and she’s getting nervous. If it doesn’t awaken by the time Ganon attacks, then without us Hyrule would be—”

“Fucked,” Zayn finishes. “I get it. We’re the backup plan.”

“Don’t think of it like that,” Gemma says. “We still have important roles to play.”

Zayn looks back to Perrie, who’s still rambling on. “Important. Right.”

~

Two hours later, Zayn and the other Champions are standing inside the Sanctum of Hyrule Castle for the official ceremony. Around two hundred spectators have gathered to observe, random Hylians from Castle Town as well as contingents from each of the other races. King Bulian stands on the dais and makes a dull speech about bravery and dedication. Perrie steps forward and gifts each of them with a blue cloth while the king drones on.

“This blue is a symbol of the royal family, and now signify your station as Champions of Hyrule,” he tells them as Perrie walks to each of them, handing out the fabric. “My daughter has made them for you to wear with pride. Perrie.” He turns to her. “You’ve been entrusted with a task only a daughter of the royal family can fulfill. Princess Perrie, lead our Champions to victory, for it is only together that the darkness can be sealed away.”

Zayn glances around at his fellow Champions. The term doesn’t sound quite so cheesy anymore, not now that the weight of their undertaking has finally started to sink in. Dua, Gemma, and Ed all wear matching determined expressions, and Louis’ lips are pressed into a hard line. Even Perrie looks grave as she nods and the audience bursts into polite applause.

Once it’s over, the crowd filters out into the courtyard. Dua, Gemma, and Ed follow suit, but Zayn lingers behind, examining the blue cloth he’s been given. Even he has to admit it’s a nice piece of fabric. It’s sky blue, embroidered with the likeness of Vah Medoh. He wonders if the other Champions’ have their respective Divine Beasts as well. The thread seems to glitter in the light, and he tilts it this way and that, trying to figure out what kind of thread Perrie used.

“The thread contains crushed diamonds,” Perrie says, walking up to him. She looks more relaxed with the ceremony finished, and Zayn doesn’t blame her. If he had King Bulian for a father, he’d be stressed all the time, too. “For extra protection.”

“It’s beautiful. Thank you,” Zayn says, and means it. “How am I meant to wear it?”

“However you like. Gemma and Ed have already made theirs into sashes of sorts, and I believe Dua is planning to turn hers into a skirt.”

“And Louis?”

“He’s asked the royal seamstress to fashion his into a tunic.”

“Of course he did,” Zayn mumbles. “I may use this for a scarf. It gets cold in Tabantha, you know.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea.” Perrie smiles, patting him on the back. “Why don’t you go outside with the others? I’m sure people would love to meet you.”

“I don’t feel like it.” Zayn busies himself wrapping the cloth around his neck and tying it so it’s snug.

“Well, suit yourself. Louis is staying inside as well as he’s waiting for the seamstress to finish, so why don’t you go talk to him while he waits?”

At the mention of Louis’ name, Zayn’s wing slips and he yanks the end of the cloth so tightly he almost chokes himself. “On second thought,” he says, stifling a cough, “I believe I know some of the Rito who came for the ceremony, so I should probably say hello to them.”

Perrie gives him a small smile, like she knows something he doesn’t. “Alright, Zayn. Whatever you like.”


	3. Chapter 3

Zayn doesn’t plan on being around when Louis arrives.

He’s fucking sick of hearing all about him by now, tired of Princess Perrie constantly singing his praises whenever she comes around to check on Vah Medoh’s repairs. And that idiotic knighting ceremony last month had been the last straw. Speaking of the knight, why hadn’t he been with the princess on any of her visits? Some knight he is.

Louis will just get in the way, he knows it. All he has is an overpowered sword. He’s just for show.

So when he hears the guards down at the bridge to the village announce that Louis has arrived, Zayn sees this as an opportunity to gain the upper hand and show off at the same time. He takes to the skies, circling overhead and watching as Louis is led up the stairs, and smirks to himself when the knight looks up and sees him. He looks ticked off. Good. Finally, they’re both on the same page.

Zayn flies lower, flapping his wings and laughing to himself as the wind messes up Louis’ hair.

“Zayn, get down here, you big feathered fuck!” he hears Louis yell. He’ll do exactly that, but not without a bit of a show first. He tucks his wings close, shooting down toward the lake below them, faster than an arrow, catching the Hylian’s shocked face for a fleeting millisecond. He sees the blue waters below him, and at the last second, flaps his wings once, shooting skyward in the cyclone he creates with the wind currents, to alight softly on the railing where Louis stands.

“Fuck!” Louis covers his face as the wind buffets him, and Zayn huffs. “What a show-off.”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “You call that showing off? Please. It’s only my unique ability to manipulate the air and create updrafts so I can soar. I call it ‘Zayn’s Gale.’ It has a nice ring, doesn’t it? Anyway, I _apologize_ for keeping you waiting.”

“Bullshit, but whatever.” Louis crosses his arms, looking none too pleased. Or impressed. “Princess Perrie send me so we can get to know each other. Since, you know, we are on the same team here, in case you forgot.”

“I know that. Perrie does a lot of things she thinks are good ideas. Like enlist me to play support to _you_.” Zayn shakes his head. “I mean…it’s just asinine.”

Louis gives him an offended glance. “Excuse me?” he demands, leaning against the railing, eyes holding a challenge.

It might be bait, but Zayn takes it. “Asinine. It means stupid. Like you.” He hops off the railing, just barely missing knocking Louis over, and paces around the landing. “You should have heard her every time she came to speak to me privately. It was nothing but ‘Louis is so brave, Louis is so skilled and strong, Louis is such a great warrior, it will be such an honor to work with Louis,’ and do you have any idea how annoying that was? I’m the greatest archer of all the Rito, but fuck me, I guess.” He throws his wings up in the air, disgusted. “It’s all about Louis, the chosen hero.”

The irritation on Louis’ face is exactly what Zayn had wanted to see. “She chose you because you’re good at what you do, obviously.”

“Is it so obvious, hero?” Zayn tacks on the last word mockingly, not content to stop needling once he’s realized that seems to be a nerve. “I’ve mastered the wind like no other, but that hardly matters. You’re the one with the sword that seals the darkness. What use am I, right? With that sword, you could single-handedly take Ganon down.” He scoffs, the innuendo on the tip of his tongue. He goes for it. “Well, if you learned how to use it.”

Louis’ ears turn pink. Zayn likes to think it’s because of what he said, not because of the chilliness up in the mountains. “Trust me, I know how to use a sword,” he retorts.

Zayn gives a humorless chuckle, getting right up in Louis’ face, beak just inches away from the Hylian’s nose. For a second he just glares, composing his words so when he finally does speak, it’s controlled, low. “Just so we’re clear here, I am doing this for myself and for the safety of my people. I’m not doing it for you, or for Princess Perrie, or for the greater good or whatever the fuck. I have a village and people I care about to protect, and I’m not going to let a reckless with Hylian fuck up the life I’ve spent years building.” He can see Louis’ jaw clench. _Bring it on, chosen one,_ he thinks to himself.

“Believe me, the last thing I want to do is fuck up,” Louis retorts, his voice just as tight. “It’s not exactly easy when I’m working with people like you who think they’re the Goddess’s gift to Hyrule. I want the Calamity gone too, asshole.”

Zayn lets out a derisive squawk of a laugh. How can Louis lack that much self-awareness? “No, you’re doing this because you’re the princess’s chosen knight. The Hero of Hyrule.” He parrots back the phrase he’s heard uttered so many times, it hardly means a thing anymore. “This is your destiny. Your duty. You’re not better than the autonomous Guardians, fighting mindlessly. You have nothing to fight for. You have no fire in your heart.” Louis’ eyes narrow at that, and he opens his mouth to say something but Zayn cuts him off, jabbing Louis hard in the chest with his wingtip. And again, and again, with each word, just for good measure. “And that is why this is completely and totally _asinine_.”

“I have to live in Hyrule too, you arrogant twat!” Louis yells back. Huh. Looks like he does have some fight; maybe he’ll be useful after all. “That’s reason enough to want to protect it. You think that just because—”

Zayn fakes a yawn, like he’s already bored of this interaction. “Hylia above, do you ever stop talking?”

“You know what? Make me.” The challenge in Louis’ eyes has shifted to something darker. Something that makes Zayn blush under his feathers; something that he needs to confirm, just for himself.

He holds up a wing. “I didn’t finish. I was going to propose we settle this…a little more privately. One-on-one, if you will.”

Louis tilts his head and accepts the challenge. “Bring it, O Zayn, Great Champion of the Rito.”

And with that, Zayn tackles him to the ground.

Louis lands with a sharp _oof_ , but that’s all the sound he can get out before Zayn slaps a wingtip over his mouth. “Do you want the entire village to hear you?” Zayn hisses.

Louis wrenches his face away, hands batting at Zayn’s wing. “Take me to yours, then, if you’re so smart.”

“Shut up,” Zayn scolds him, touching the tip of his beak to Louis’ shoulder by way of a kiss. “And _stay_ shut up.”

Louis does, in fact, stay shut up for the rest of the afternoon. In fact, he’s remarkably pliant. Zayn sees to that with the stash of extra cloths and ropes he keeps in his nest.

“That…was something else.” Louis mutters once they’re finally finished, both of them lying on the floor of Zayn’s nest surrounded by tousled blankets.

Zayn thinks he gets to be smug once he hears Louis’ wrecked voice. “Shut you up though, didn’t it?” He lies down, smoothing out the bedroll, and draping a wing over Louis, his mind already turning to the next day. They need to train together, figure out how their fighting styles align and work to find the most efficient tactics. That, at least, Zayn knows he knows how to do. Whatever else this is…well, he’ll figure that out in time. “Now go the fuck to sleep. We’re going to the Flight Range tomorrow and we’re getting up early, and if you complain even once that your ass hurts, remember that you literally asked for it.”

Louis’ face is still flushed a deep red, all the way to the tips of his ears, but he snuggles into the blankets and curls up, only his hair and eyes visible over Zayn’s wing. “I still think you’re an arrogant show-off,” he mumbles, but the words hold no venom.

“And I still think you’re a reckless, asinine little Hylian.” It comes out as a fond whisper before Zayn drifts off to sleep.

He wakes with the sun, only to find that Louis has slipped out from under his wing at some point. Mumbling incoherently to himself, Zayn drags himself to his feet, rubbing at his eyes and seeing Louis nowhere in his nest.

He pushes the curtain away from the doorframe and walks down to the main staircase, blinking blearily and giving half-assed waves to the Rito who pass by and wish him a good morning. He stops one young Rito to ask where Louis went, only to get a shrug in response.

So he heads up to Elder Brannan’s nest, hoping to maybe find the Hero there.

“Ah! Zayn, my boy,” the elder greets him, but there’s no sign of Louis. “Looking for Louis?”

Zayn blinks. “How did you know?”

“He thought you might come looking for him.” Elder Brannan smiles. “He told me he was headed to the Flight Range.”

“That little bastard,” Zayn mutters to himself, turning away and heading back to his nest to grab his bow so he can head out.

The Flight Range was built at his own request several years ago, when he was twenty and first heard about the existence of the fabled Divine Beasts. Back then, he had thought his chance at being able to pilot such a creation was just a dream, but he pushed himself in his training anyway as rumors continued to swirl about the Calamity’s rise. And it was a damn good thing he had, too. Initially the Flight Range was his own personal training ground, built some distance away from the village, but after some of the young Rito had begged him to allow them in, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to open it to the village. 

He finds Louis sitting on the edge of the landing, feet dangling over the abyss below with a half-empty quiver of arrows leaning against his body. “Morning.”

Louis turns around sharply, surprise etched on his face for a fraction of a second before he smirks. “Took you long enough. I thought you said we were waking up _early_.”

Zayn huffs. “Don’t sound so smug.”

“Yeah, yeah. Time to see if you’re as good with a bow as you are with a sword.” Still smirking, Louis picks up his quiver, slinging it across his back.

“We are not going to discuss that,” Zayn informs him.

Louis gives him a sideways look. “Sure. Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about this place.”

“How someone like you would use it, you mean?” Zayn interrupts.

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds fucking rude.”

“Exactly the point.” Zayn points out the targets scattered around the cliffs, placed at varying angles and heights. There’s a hundred-foot drop from the landing to the base of the cliffs, but the constant wind whipping through the mountains creates permanent updrafts that make training easier. In fact, these very updrafts had been the inspiration for Zayn’s own gale. “Just use the updrafts. Oh, wait.” Zayn chuckles to himself. “You need wings.”

Louis rolls his eyes. “Can you stop thinking everyone else is below you for, like, one minute?” he demands, poking at a pile of red material that Zayn hadn’t noticed before.

“What’s that?”

“My wings.” With that, Louis grabs it, along with his bow, and jumps off the platform.

“What the fuck?” Zayn yells, rushing to the edge of the platform and peering down. Where has that idiot gone?

Then, just as suddenly as Louis had disappeared, he rises again, holding the red material over his head in a manner that allows him to rise with the updrafts. Zayn’s heard of such a contraption—it’s called a paraglider, he’s pretty sure—but he’s never seen one in use before. He has to admit it’s a clever Hylian invention, and he doesn’t fault them for wanting to soar among the clouds like the Rito can. There’s truly no feeling in the world like it.

Wait. If Louis is using both hands to hold onto the glider, how does he expect to do anything? He’s an idiot, just like Zayn’s been saying all along. He shakes his head. “Useless. How do you—” he begins, but then Louis does the unthinkable.

He _lets go_ of the material and goes plummeting to the ground. Zayn screeches and dives after him. He might not like the guy, but he’s pretty sure Perrie would not be pleased if he stood here and watched the Hylian Hero fall to his death.

But Louis doesn’t look as panicky as Zayn feels. No, instead he nocks an arrow and shoots, hitting a target cleanly in the center before reaching up for the paraglider and steering it toward the updrafts, his bow still in his left hand.

“How the fuck?” Zayn wonders aloud, circling back to the platform and waiting for Louis to land next to him.

“Still think I’m useless?” Louis says, quirking a brow and cross his arms.

“That was…more than I thought you were capable of,” Zayn admits with a grudging nod. “Though some more time would do you some good. I suppose I could…show you a trick I use when I shoot in midair, that makes the air currents around you slow your fall.”

Louis’s mouth drops open in a small O. “You’d do that?” he asks, genuinely surprised. “The great Rito warrior is sharing his secrets?”

“Now I’m regretting it.”

Louis breaks into a grin suddenly. “Nah,” he says, jabbing an elbow into Zayn’s side and making him squawk. “You think I’m great.”

Zayn just sputters for a second as Louis jumps off to do more target practice. “Unfortunately, I sort of do,” he mutters to himself. Part of him hopes Louis hears.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, Zayn wakes up before dawn, unable to stay asleep for another minute. Louis isn’t in the nest either, having opted to take a guest bed at the inn after a long day of training. Zayn had pretended that decision meant nothing to him. He tosses and turns, watching the sky begin to turn purple with the first hints of sunrise, before finally giving up and pacing down to the landing.

The Rito have already named it Zayn’s Landing. Zayn isn’t really sure how he feels about that. He finds Louis there, sitting a few feet from the edge. “Hey,” Zayn says softly.

Louis doesn’t turn around, but his shoulders tense when Zayn walks up behind him. “Hey,” he repeats. “You couldn’t sleep either?”

“No. Can I?” Zayn motions to a spot next to Louis, and takes the Hylian’s shrug as permission to perch. “Had a lot on my mind.”

“Like what?”

 _Like you_ , Zayn thinks. “Can I ask you something?”

“What is it?”

Zayn pauses for a second, unsure how to word his question without being offensive. “How’d you get to be the princess’s personal knight? I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t really seem like the disciplined soldier type.”

Louis sighs, picking at some thread on his trousers. “I was recruited into the Royal Guard Academy when I was six.”

“How?”

“It’s so stupid when I think about it.” Louis gives a dry laugh, shaking his head. “I got into a fight with some other kid, ‘cause he took an apple right out of my little sister’s hands. I told him to give it back, and when he didn’t, I hit him.”

“And that got you recruited into the Academy?”

“More or less. One of the soldiers walking by broke up the fight, and he said something about me having a strong sense of justice. You know, stuff that doesn’t mean anything when you’re a kid. But he talked to my father about it, and the next thing I knew, I had all my things packed up and my father was dropping me off at the Academy and I hardly saw him again after that.”

Zayn frowns. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be. He was an ass. I just felt bad leaving my sister with him.” Louis yanks at the thread, snapping it, and flicks it onto the ground.

“How long were you in the Academy for?”

“Twelve years. I went into the reserves when I was eighteen, moved into the king’s guard three years later, and then about a year and a half ago, they announced that they needed a personal knight for the princess. I went in for the interview and didn’t think I’d get it. But something weird happened. I went into the Sanctum to meet Princess Perrie, and when I walked in her jaw dropped and she said something about how she’d been looking for me her whole life.”

“How romantic.”

“Oh, shut up.” Louis rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling anyway. “She said she knew the second I walked in the room I had to be the Hero of Hyrule. Not that I believed her at first, obviously, but she whipped out all these books and all the heroes from past generations looked exactly like me. Then she took me to the armory, where the sword that seals the darkness was locked away, and the moment I touched it, it glowed, and she said she could hear it speaking to her. Telling her it was me. So here I am. And here we are.”

Zayn pauses before asking, “Do you ever wish you ended up somewhere else?”

Louis looks thoughtful for a long moment. Then, finally, he says, “Sometimes I think about it, ‘cause at times it feels like my life isn’t my own. I’m the princess’s knight, I’m the hero of legend, I’m the Hylian Champion. Sometimes I just want to be Louis.”

 _You could be mine,_ Zayn thinks. “Hmm. Don’t know what that’s like,” is what he says instead, tone breezy.

“You would say that, O great champion.” Louis jabs his elbow into Zayn’s side. “You really mean you never imagine _not_ being the greatest Rito warrior of all time?”

“Why should I imagine being less?”

“Doesn’t it get lonely at the top?”

“Maybe,” he finds himself admitting.

Louis studies him for a moment, gaze intense. “You weren’t always lonely, though.”

“Is this life story time?” Zayn says wryly. “I suppose I owe you mine after you told me yours. But there’s not much to say. My father was a great archer. When I was five, he gave me my first bow and taught me how to shoot. But two years later, he went missing in the Hebra Mountains on a scouting mission.” He looks away, not wanting to see the sympathetic look Louis is surely giving him. “My mum was so upset, she left to find him herself, but she never came back, either.”

“I’m sorry,” Louis whispers.”

Zayn shakes his head. “It is what it is. Elder Brannan took me in after that and encouraged me to keep my father’s memory alive by being the best archer I could be. And I did. I broke all of his records, surpassed his skill levels. I had the Flight Range built a few years ago, when the first rumors about the Divine Beasts began because I wanted the chance to pilot it and I thought that if I made myself the best, they’d choose me. I…I just wanted to be the best to make my parents proud.”

He feels a gentle hand on his wing, and looks down to see Louis staring at him. There’s no pity in his eyes, only understanding. “They would be.”

“I’d hope. You can understand how my obsession with my training didn’t really make me a lot of friends,” Zayn mutters. “But I just told myself I didn’t need them. Being the greatest gave me more confidence than friends ever would.” Louis’ question from before echoes in his head: _Doesn’t it get lonely at the top?_

“You don’t have to be alone, you know,” Louis says softly, as though he’s reading Zayn’s mind.

No, he doesn’t. If he’s being truthful, when he thinks about the future he’s already imagining it with someone else by his side. Namely, Louis. They’ve only spent two days together but something about Louis sticks with him. He’s loud but magnetic, a little shit but endearing. But he can’t say any of that out loud, not after only knowing him for two days.

“But no,” Louis says suddenly.

“No?”

“The question you asked before. No, I don’t wish I ended up somewhere else.” Louis looks at him. In this light, the blue of his eyes matches the sky. Zayn wants to soar in that blue, fully knowing he’ll never conquer it but wanting to try anyway.

“I’m glad you didn’t.”

When Louis smiles at him, Zayn’s heart sprouts wings of its own.

~

They fall into a routine after that. Wake up, make breakfast together, then head to the Flight Range to train for the majority of the day before retiring to Zayn’s nest. On the second day, Zayn takes Louis’ paraglider to a mechanically-inclined Rito named Sam, who reworks it into something new. He makes a harness for Louis and attaches long lines to the glider itself, explaining, “So all he has to do is attach the lines to the harness before he jumps. Then he’ll glide as long as gravity and the wind will let him, and leave his hands free at the same time. If he wants to drop lower, he can tug on this line right here and it’ll collapse the fabric to let him fall.”

When Zayn takes the new paraglider to Louis, the Hylian is suspicious at first.

“First off, when did you take my paraglider, and second, what the fuck did you do to it?” Louis demands, trying to untangle the lines and glare at Zayn at the same time.

“Remember the first time we came here and I told you a little more air time would do you some good?” Zayn shrugs. “I gave you more air time.”

“I swear, if you rigged this so I fall to my death, I’ll kill you.”

“Do you really think I’d kill you on purpose? The other Champions seem to like you so they’d probably kill me right back.”

Louis buckles the last of the harnesses around his chest and grabs his bow. “Well, this is it. If this is the end for me, I want my last words to be ‘fuck you, Zayn Malik of the Rito.’” And with that cheerful proclamation, he steps off the platform.

To Zayn’s relief, and Louis’ apparent amazement, it works. “This is fucking sick!” Louis yells, gliding through the Flight Range and taking his shots, the updrafts keeping him in place as he shoots. Zayn grins. With that thing, Louis will be unstoppable in the air. Ganon won’t stand a chance.

Louis lands, finally, breathless and smiling from ear to ear. “Okay. I take back the ‘fuck you.’”

“Too late, you already have,” Zayn says with a smug smile.

“Shut up. Anyway, whatever Sam did to this thing is amazing. Tell him thanks for me, would you? And…thank you too,” Louis adds, smile softening. “It means a lot that you did this for me. Even if you stole my paraglider and didn’t tell me at first. But I guess that cancels out.”

The next thing Zayn knows, Louis’ planting a kiss on the end of his beak, but before he can say anything in response, Louis’ already jumped off the platform again.

Something changes, after that. Their interactions are still laced with banter and teasing, but there’s something new underneath all of it. Louis still doesn’t let a single conversation go by without mocking Zayn somehow, but now it’s done with a smile and sometimes a wink, to let Zayn know that he doesn’t _really_ think he’s got feathers for brains. And they make time for dinner together each night. They trade off on cooking, Zayn usually favoring fish dishes while Louis throws together meat dishes flavored with herbs and spices from all over Hyrule. Louis jokingly calls them dates, and Zayn doesn’t bother correcting him.

But most importantly, Louis keeps kissing him. Randomly. Sometimes Zayn will be boiling vegetables and Louis will plant a kiss on his cheek. Or sometimes after a particularly impressive run in the Flight Range, Louis will cheer and throw his arms around Zayn and kiss him on the beak. If Zayn could blush, he surely would. He can’t kiss in the same manner, but he nips at Louis’ hair, preening him the same way he’s seen other Rito preen their mates and chicks.

“You’re messing up my hair,” Louis says the first time Zayn does it. “What’s the point of doing my hair in the morning if you’re just going to do this to it?”

“You do your hair in the morning and then go right to the Flight Range, where it’s windy as fuck,” Zayn points out. “That does way more damage than I do.” He punctuates his point with another nip. Louis just sighs.

~

“Can I be honest with you?” Zayn asks three days later as they’re cuddling up on the landing, watching the sun set.

“That implies you haven’t been honest with me all week.”

“Shut up, I’m trying to be serious for a second.” Zayn glares at Louis, who just grins back at him in response. “I was wrong about you.”

“Wrong about me how?” Louis asks softly, the smile fading from his face.

“I didn’t like you when we first met,” Zayn admits.

“I didn’t like you either.”

“Really? You didn’t like me?”

Louis’ face falls. “Well, I was mostly joking, but now you’re making me feel bad.”

“Oh. Well, I genuinely didn’t like you. Which was pretty obvious, I guess. But I just thought you were all talk. I heard all the stories about you and when I saw you I just assumed it was all talk. And I thought, ‘how could this tiny little Hylian be the one who’s supposed to be the hero of legend?’ It made no sense to me.” He sighs, resting the side of his head against Louis’. “Like, I understood why Dua and Gemma and Ed were chosen. And obviously I knew why I was. I never doubted myself, but I doubted you.”

Louis is quiet for a long time, eyes downcast. But he makes no move to extricate himself fromwhere he’s leaning against Zayn, in the spot under his wing Zayn has come to think of as Louis’. He fits under there too perfectly. “I don’t blame you,” he ends up saying after a pause. “I know I don’t really look like much. But I wanted to impress you. I’d heard about all the things you’d done, about how you’re the greatest Rito warrior of your generation, maybe even of all time, and that was kind of fucking intimidating, you know?”

“Are you kidding me?” Zayn squawks out a laugh. “I wanted to impress _you_. That’s why I performed my Gale when you first arrived at the village this week.”

Louis cracks a smile. “I guess we’re just a couple of idiots.”

“Speak for yourself.”

“You can’t tell a story like that and _not_ expect me to call you an idiot.”

“You’d call me an idiot no matter what I said.”

Louis laughs. “You know me so well.”

“I do. Unfortunately, I still like you.”

“You like me?” Louis repeats, eyes glittering mischievously. “As in, you tolerate me and accept my role as the hero of legend, or as in you _like_ me?”

“Are we schoolchildren?” Zayn rolls his eyes. “The second one, thanks.”

“Unfortunately, I think I like you too.” Louis kisses his cheek. “Any other surprises we should get out of the way while we’re being _honest_?”

“Actually, yes.” Zayn reaches deep into the pocket of his tunic and pulls out a wooden flute. “I’ve been working on a song.”

“Wait. What?” Louis sits up straight, tucking a leg under himself so he can face Zayn. “Since when did you play the flute? _And_ write songs for it?”

“I’m a multitalented Rito legend in the making.” Zayn grips the flute in one hand. “Do you…want to hear it?”

“Of course.”

So Zayn takes a deep breath, raises the flute to his beak, and [begins to play](https://youtu.be/R1vDupMEds4). He’s not a composer by any means, but ever since he perfected his Gale, he’s been trying to capture the feeling of freedom it gives him. Words had failed, so at the elder’s suggestion, he turned to music. It’s still a work in progress, and a few of his notes are squeaky or unclean, but he’s sort of proud of how it’s coming along so far. It starts off easy and lilting, almost like a lullaby, before dramatically soaring higher. Perhaps it’s too literal an interpretation of his movements in the air, but he likes it and that’s what matters.

Once he’s done, he puts the flute in his lap, fiddling with it while he waits for Louis to say something.

“Zayn, you did that?” Louis asks.

“Yeah, so be nice.”

“I loved it.”

Zayn looks up sharply. “Really?” he says, feeling himself start to smile already. “I was joking. You can be honest.”

“I am. It’s beautiful.” Louis gives him a smile. “Reminds me of what it feels like to jump off the platform at the Flight Range and let the updrafts take me higher.”

“That’s sort of exactly what it’s about. What it feels like to fly.” Come to think of it, it’s also sort of how Louis makes him feel. He’ll tell him that another time, though. Right now he’s got a Louis curling up under his wing, so that’s what he pays attention to.

~

The next day starts off with the same routine, but by now, some of the young Rito and even their parents have starting coming to the Flight Range to watch the two warriors train. Zayn preens at the attention, but Louis still doesn’t seem entirely comfortable with their audience. It doesn’t affect his shooting, though—he still hits target after target with incredible precision, and a thought pops up in the back of Zayn’s mind that Louis might actually break his records.

To his surprise, and the shock of the assembled crowd, Louis doesn’t break it, but he ties. He ties Zayn’s all-time record. The audience bursts into a smattering of applause and impressed whistles. Louis alights on the platform, breathing hard and cheeks bright red from the cold and the exertion. “Why are they clapping?”

Zayn just stares at him for a second. “Do you know what you just did?”

Louis blinks. “No?”

“Louis, you just tied my all-time record.”

Louis’ jaw drops. “Did I really?”

“You did.” There are at least two dozen Rito perched on the cliffs around the Flight Range, but in that moment Zayn doesn’t give a single shit about any of them. He cups Louis’ face, their eyes meeting. “That’s amazing, you know. _You’re_ amazing.”

Louis lights up at that, blushing to the tips of his ears as his eyes crinkle up at the corners. “I did have a little help,” he replies, leaning in to rest his forehead against Zayn’s beak.

“Louis?”

Louis’ out of Zayn’s grasp in a flash. “Princess?”

“What the…” Confused, Zayn looks to the end of the landing. When did Princess Perrie get here? How long has she been watching?

“Louis, I need to talk to you,” she says urgently.

“Alright, well, here we are.”

“In private.” Perrie glances back toward Rito Village. “Is there somewhere we can go?”

“There’s a cabin just around the corner,” Louis says. “It’s closer.”

“Let’s go. Hello, Zayn,” she adds, almost as an afterthought.

Louis throws Zayn an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’ll be back for our—for dinner.”

The spectators have dispersed by now, the departure of the Hero of Hyrule seeming to indicate that the show is over. Oh, well. It doesn’t mean Zayn has to stop practicing. And so, while he waits for Louis to return from his surprise audience with the princess, he continues his training.

But an hour passes, and there’s no sign of Louis. Sighing, Zayn unstrings his bow, storing it in the chest, when Andy, one of the Rito messengers, runs up to him.

“Zayn?” he says. “There’s a message for you from Louis.”

“From Louis?” He just saw Louis an hour ago. Why’s he sending him messages?

“Yeah.” Andy hands him a small scrap of parchment. “He just said to get this to you as soon as possible.” Zayn unfolds it to see two lines in Louis’ scratchy handwriting.

_Please don’t wait. I’m not coming home tonight. Had to go back to the castle with Perrie. I’ll see you in a few days. – Louis xx_

Zayn sighs, trying to hide his disappointment. “Thanks.” He tries not to be angry with the princess for taking Louis away early, but what can he do? Louis is her knight, after all. He had to go back sometime.

“Bad news?” Andy asks.

Zayn shakes his head, forcing a smile. “As long as Ganon hasn’t attacked yet, everything is good news.”

Andy chuckles and nods. “True. Let’s hope that’s far in the future.”


	5. Chapter 5

“A few days” turns into a few weeks, during which Zayn hardly sees Louis. It’s understandable, but that doesn’t mean he likes it. He relies on Andy to bring him news of where Louis is and what the princess is up to. Surely Andy has to know something by now, but if he does, he says nothing.

But two weeks after Louis’ abrupt departure, Andy brings him news of the first rumor.

“They’re talking,” he says as Zayn opens the curtain and shows him into his nest. “Over in Zora’s Domain.”

Zayn frowns, pouring them each a cup of tea and handing one to Andy. “About what?”

“About you and Louis.”

Zayn almost spits his tea out at that. How could rumors reach _Zora’s Domain_ , of all places? “What?” he asks eloquently. “How?”

Andy shrugs. “I’m not exactly sure. But it sounds the rumor must have started with someone who’s been watching you and Louis at the Flight Range.”

“Where would anyone get rumor fodder from our training?”

“Well, I’m not sure how true this is, but they’re saying that Louis broke your records and then kissed you.”

Zayn blinks. Of course he remembers that day. It was the same day Louis left Rito Village. “Well, it’s partially true. He _tied_ my records and we _almost_ kissed.”

Andy hums thoughtfully. “Well, I just thought you should know. Does that…bother you?”

“Of course not. I’m used to having rumors spread about me,” Zayn says with a flick of his wingtip. “Then again, such rumors are usually about my skills, but I’ll accept this.”

Andy squints at him for a second. “The Zayn I knew last month would have had a fucking fit about rumors like this. You really like him, huh?”

Admitting to Louis that Zayn likes him is one thing. To say it out loud to another person is something else entirely. “He’s…he’s something.”

Andy just laughs and claps Zayn on the shoulder. “I’ll take that as a yes. Want me to tell him anything from you, if I see him?”

Zayn shakes his head. “Anything I want to say to him, I’ll say to him myself.”

“Fair enough. I gotta take off, though. I have some letters I have to get to Goron City.”

“Have fun. Tell me if Ed’s done any work on that ‘castle on a hill’ song, yeah?”

“Will do.” Andy salutes and takes off, leaving Zayn to grumble as he shoves his beak in his teacup.

The rumors only increase every time Andy returns to the village. Three weeks later, he comes back with the most shocking news of all.

“I just came from Hyrule Castle,” he announces, alighting on the landing where Zayn’s been waiting. “She knows.”

Zayn’s stomach flips. “Who knows what?” he asks, even though he already knows the answer.

“Princess Perrie knows you and Louis are involved. Apparently she’s known since…well, since before whatever happened at the Flight Range. That’s why she pulled him back to the castle so suddenly.”

Zayn covers his face with his wings and screams.

~

The next time Perrie shows up to Rito Village, Zayn is waiting for her at the bridge. He’s been up since dawn, pacing his nest and then his landing to gather his thoughts before flying down to the bridge to wait.

She smiles when she sees him, which makes Zayn even more irritated. He just crosses his wings, waiting for her to get close enough to speak. “Princess.”

“Zayn, always nice to see you.” She dismounts and offers a hand that Zayn doesn’t take.

He gets right to the point. “Why did you pull Louis back to the castle last month?”

Perrie just blinks before furrowing her brow. “I don’t know what you’re referring to.”

“Please. Andy told me you’ve known for weeks.”

Perrie holds his gaze for a moment, then sighs. “Can we discuss this somewhere else?”

“Come up to my landing, then.”

They walk up the stairs in silence. It’s a quiet, cold morning, not many Rito out and about at this time of day.

“What do you know about me and Louis?” Zayn asks once they reach the landing.

“I know you like him, and I know he likes you. Neither of you are very subtle, you know,” Perrie says pointedly.

“And so what?” Zayn replies petulantly. “It’s none of your business anyway, what we decide to do as long as we do our jobs.”

"I just don't want you getting too close," Perrie says, clasping her hands in front of her.

Zayn rolls his eyes. "Why, do you have a crush on him? Do you have a crush on _me_?"

Perrie gives him a vaguely disgusted look. "Louis is gay. And you're a bird."

"Doesn't bother Louis," Zayn says with a self-satisfied smirk.

"I—oh, we're off the point! We’re talking about your—whatever it is. It’s more than friends, yes?”

“If so, why’s that a bad thing? We're finally getting along just like you wanted."

"Well, with the threat of Ganon seeming more and more imminent, I just think a relationship could be a distraction."

Zayn squawks out a laugh. "Princess, please. A distraction? We’ve been training together. You know he’s tied my all-time record, right? I even had Sam down at the Slippery Falcon build him a better paraglider. You can’t deny the week he spent here was a good thing.“

“I’m not stupid, alright? I know what’s going on beyond that, and quite honestly, it’s a liability.”

“Do tell me more.”

"Oh, Zayn, for once, will you just listen?" Perrie shouts. "You say you have no weaknesses, but if you keep this up, he will become yours."

“Well, I think it’s a little too fucking late for that.”

It’s out before Zayn realizes what he’s said.

Perrie just squints for a second, then sighs. “You’re in deep, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zayn grumbles, crossing his wings and trying to think of a way to change the subject.

“Zayn, you just said it.” Perrie takes a step forward and rests a hand on his wing. “You just admitted he’s your weakness. You don’t see how this is a problem?”

“A problem? Princess, let me explain.” Zayn takes a deep breath, trying to gather his thoughts and frame this in a professional manner. “I didn’t mean weakness in that way. I know what my role is, and he knows his. I only meant he’s a weakness in a personal sense. Like, if he asked me to do anything, I’d do it just because it was him. I appreciate him as a warrior. He’s a great asset to us and I’m honored to be working alongside him. And though we didn’t get along at first, we’ve gotten over that. Is it so bad if coworkers became friends and friends—maybe—became a little more?”

“But he’s still a weakness,” Perrie says with a wry little smile. “Sometimes our greatest strengths are also our greatest weaknesses. And weaknesses can be used against you. I don’t want him used against you.”

“How could he be used against me?”

“We can’t take that chance, Zayn.”

“So what are you saying, then? Are you telling me I’m only allowed to have a professional relationship with him?”

“I’m not telling you anything. Think of it as more of a suggestion based on observation.”

“Then don’t be offended if I don’t take it.”

Perrie frowns. “I may require your assistance with something in the future. Wait for my correspondence. Is Elder Brannan around?”

“He’s in his nest.” Zayn makes no move to walk with her, so after a few seconds of tension-wrought eye contact, she leaves.

“Fuck does she think she is?” he bursts out the moment she’s out of earshot, pacing to the edge of the landing and glaring up at the elder’s nest. “Telling me not to do anything with Louis. It’s not like she can enforce it.” He’s rambling to himself, he knows, but at least his words drop over the edge into the lake far below where no one can hear them. “Fuck that.”

When Louis arrives at the village a few days later, the look on his face is enough to tell Zayn that Perrie must have had a similar talk with him as well. Zayn flies down to greet him at the pond at the base of the spire. “You look well.”

Louis doesn’t reply with words, opting instead to grab Zayn by the face and press an insistent kiss to his cheek. “I missed you.”

“It’s only been a month and a half.” Zayn rubs at his cheek, aware that anyone in the village could have seen that. He finds he doesn’t really care.

“Yeah, well, that’s ages when you’re following Princess Perrie around Hyrule.” Louis sighs. “We had a fight a few days ago. Can we go to your nest?”

Zayn gives him a gentle whack on the back of the head. “Presumptuous.”

“To _talk_.”

“Sure.” When Louis shoots him an unamused stare, Zayn just laughs and leads Louis up the steps.

“She said she talked to you about me,” Louis blurts out the moment the curtain closes behind them and they’re cocooned away in Zayn’s nest.

“Did she? If it’s anything like what she said to me about you, it can’t have been good. Tea?”

“Please.” Louis plops down in the corner, making himself comfortable in a pile of pillows, the Master Sword lying next to him. “Oh, it was fucking ridiculous. She said she told you I was a distraction and a liability, and that our relationship could be used against us. And then I said she shouldn’t be trying to control my life considering her father’s trying to control hers, which I probably shouldn’t have said, but I said it and then the moment we reached the castle, I rode out here by myself.” He accepts the teacup when Zayn hands it to him, drinking half of it in one long sip. “Thanks. What’d she say to you?”

“The same thing, pretty much. She said she’d heard the rumors from all the way back when you came here for the first time, and that’s why she pulled you back to the castle so suddenly.”

Louis’ jaw drops. “She never told me that.”

Zayn furrows his brow. “You’re joking.”

“No, not at all.”

Zayn lets out a strangled squawk. “Great! She hates us.”

“Well, I was thinking about it and I think she’s just a bit jealous,” Louis says. “You know Dua has a thing for Gemma, right?”

Zayn coughs. “Are you serious?”

“I don’t come here and lie.”

“So what are you saying, then?”

“Perrie likes Dua.”

Zayn can’t do anything but blink. “What?”

“Perrie likes Dua but Dua has a thing for Gemma. And I’m pretty sure Gemma feels the same way. She’s making Dua the Zora armor.”

“Oh, my Goddess. How did I not know any of this?”

Louis gives him a look. “Because you never talk to the other Champions. Am I the only one you talk to?”

“Yeah, sort of, a bit,” Zayn admits.

“Well, there you go. But don’t let on that I told you, alright? I don’t think it’s supposed to be—you know.”

“I wonder if she had the same talk with them,” Zayn mutters.

“To be honest, I don’t really give a fuck what Perrie has to say about us,” Louis says with a nonchalant shrug. “She can pull me back to the castle all she wants but she can’t make me not love you.”

Zayn’s mind goes blank, his teacup raised halfway. Louis said he loves him. Louis loves him. The appropriate thing to say in return would be to say he loves him back, right? Is he there yet? He looks at Louis, whose cheeks are a fierce shade of pink.

“I mean, not that I _love_ you or anything, I didn’t mean it exactly like that, I was just saying that theoretically speaking—”

“I love you,” Zayn says in a rush, putting his cup down so rapidly he spills tea on the floor. ”I—yeah. I love you too.”

“Oh.” Louis blushes even deeper and drops his gaze to the floor, dragging a blanket over his lap and playing with the fabric. “That’s. Yeah.”

“Hey.” Zayn tilts his head and waits till Louis looks back up at him. “I just wanna make you smile, is that okay?”

Louis’ lips quirk in a tiny grin. “Yeah, that’s okay.”

“Come here.” Zayn waits for Louis to scoot over next to him before curling his wings around his shoulders.

Louis turns his face to nuzzle into Zayn’s neck. “I love you,” he whispers again.

It sounds so sweet in his voice that Zayn asks him to say it after he makes them dinner. And again when they’re tangled up in the blankets, Louis’ heels digging into his back. And again before they go to sleep. And once more before he leaves in the morning. And he says it back every time.


	6. Chapter 6

Ten days later, when Zayn returns from a morning at the Flight Range, he finds two things outside his nest: a letter with the princess’s seal on the envelope, and Elder Brannan. He picks the letter up, but he’s more worried about the elder’s presence.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to speak with you about a few matters.”

Heart pounding, Zayn lets the elder inside and tosses the letter on a table, busying himself by striking a fire under his cooking pot. “Have the scouts seen anything? Or—did something happen to any of our messengers?”

“No, none of that. I wanted to talk about something a bit more personal.” Elder Brannan gives him a knowing look. “About the princess’s knight.”

Zayn frowns. “Perrie came by last week to tell me he’d be a distraction. She probably said that to you, too, huh?”

Elder Brannan laughs. “She tried to, but I think her worries are unfounded. This is the most focused and confident I’ve seen you in years, Zayn.”

Zayn puffs up his chest with pride. “Thank you.”

“But,” the elder goes on, “this is also the most grounded I’ve seen you. Sometimes, when you were growing up…I was worried for you. Worried that your skill made you arrogant and made you push people away. But these last few weeks, something’s changed. You’re—hm. Gentler. And that’s not a bad thing. Perrie may think of Louis as a weakness, but I think he’s really your greatest source of strength.” The elder smiles, almost wistfully. “When you have someone to fight for, that changes everything.”

“I hadn’t thought of it like that,” Zayn muses, turning away to toss some leftover fish into the pot. Someone to fight for was something he never really thought he’d have in his life. “But it’s not like Louis would say the same thing about me.”

“Do you have feathers in your eyes?” Elder Brannan says with a flap of his mighty wings. “That boy would pull the moon down for you. He’d chase every star fragment that falls to the ground. He’d fight every [Lynel](http://zelda.wikia.com/wiki/Lynel#The_Legend_of_Zelda:_Breath_of_the_Wild) in Hyrule if it meant the smallest scrap of praise from you.”

“You don’t know that,” Zayn mutters, though he’s secretly pleased with the thought.

“Oh, but I do. Louis and I talk, you know.”

Zayn sits down abruptly, his meal forgotten. “Are you saying he told you all that?”

“Not in those exact words, but the sentiment was there.” The elder smiles. “And that brings me to why I came to you today. I know you and Louis have been growing rather close over the months. And with the threat of the Calamity looming closer and closer, I would like to offer to marry you.”

Zayn opens and closes his beak a few times, at a loss for words. Only the smell of burning salmon shakes him out of a daze. “Wait a second. Marry us?” he repeats, finally getting up to pick the blackened fish out of the cooking pot. “Why?”

“It’s not uncommon for Rito warriors to marry their loved ones before they go off to fight, in the event they don’t return.”

Zayn snorts. “Are you saying you don’t think we can defeat Ganon?”

“It’s only a suggestion.”

“I don’t love him,” Zayn lies after a pause. “We’re involved, but not…not like that.”

“To be young and foolish once again. Think about it, will you?” Elder Brannan is gone before Zayn can offer him some fish.

“Marry us,” Zayn mutters, snapping up some of the charred salmon. “Even if we were at that point, we’d have plenty to time once Ganon’s defeated.”

But the elder’s suggestion weighs on his mind over the next week, popping up in the back of his subconscious at random times. He even dreams, a few times, of an intimate ceremony at Warbler’s Nest, with a choir of Rito chicks and the wind whistling through the trees as they say their vows.

By the time he receives word from Louis that he’s returning to the village, Zayn’s made up his mind.

Louis arrives two days later, looking the worse for wear. But despite the drag in his steps and the exhaustion in his eyes, he still has determination etched on his face. Zayn swoops down to the bridge to greet him.

“Louis, there’s—”

“Zayn, I—”

They both start talking at the same time. Zayn cuts himself off and just holds his wings out. Louis falls into him, weight leaning into Zayn’s chest. Zayn lets him, wrapping his wings around the smaller Hylian and just holding him for a few moments.

“You first,” Zayn says.

“Perrie sent me to request that you escort her to the base of Mount Lanayru,” Louis tells him, extricating himself from Zayn’s embrace. “Ed, Dua, and Gemma all agreed. They’re just waiting on you.”

Zayn snorts in confusion. “She sent you all the way out here to ask me that.”

“Well, it was in the letter she sent you about a week ago.”

Fuck. The letter he ignored when Elder Brannan dropped the marriage idea on him. He completely forgot. “Must have gotten lost somewhere,” he lies. “So her best idea was to, again, send you.”

“You don’t even sound glad to see me,” Louis retorts with an exaggerated pout, sticking his lower lip out. Stupid, cute, and stupidly cute.

Zayn sighs. “She knows I can’t say no to you, that’s what it is. I’m onto her.”

“And maybe I just wanted to see you, too.”

There’s still time. If Louis just stays for a day… “When is she going?”

“In a few days. But I have to leave soon. She told me to deliver the message and then go right back to the castle so I can help her get ready for the trip.”

“She really can’t pack her own shit for two days?”

Louis chuckles. “Not just packing. Mostly it’s getting her father out of her hair.”

It’s now or never, then. “Surely you can spare a few minutes before you go.”

Louis gives him a smirk. “She’ll give me so much shit if she finds out you fucked me while I was here on official royal business, but I guess that’s what makes it fun.”

“Actually, that’s not it. Just come with me?” Zayn can’t believe he’s literally saying no to sex with Louis, but that’s just where his life is right now. “Meet me at the elder’s nest.” He takes off, flying up to the highest point in the village, only to find no trace of Elder Brannan. He asks the shopkeepers, but all they can tell him is that the elder went away for a few days. “Fuck, fuck fuck fuck,” he curses under his breath just as Louis comes up the last flight of stairs.

“Why are we meeting with Elder Brannan?”

“I…guess we’re not. He’s gone away, but he didn’t tell anyone why,” Zayn tells him with a shrug. “But there’s still something I need to tell you. Meet me at Warbler’s Nest?”

Louis gives him an unimpressed look. “You make me climb all those damn stairs and now you want to go somewhere else?”

“You’re the chosen hero. I think you can handle a bit of exertion,” Zayn teases him before taking off again, alighting at Warbler’s Nest and watching Louis step off the wooden landing with his paraglider. His hand goes to the ruby circlet in his pocket, the one he’d flown all the way to Kara Kara Bazaar to buy. He just hopes it’s enough to give. If he had it his way, he’d be spending months courting Louis, cooking him meals and gifting him with dozens of shiny things and building a house for them from the ground up. But it’s war, and they have no time for any of that.

Louis lands on the edge of the cliff, folding up the glider. “So why did we have to come all the way out here?”

“I didn’t want to say this where anyone could overhear.” Zayn takes a deep breath, his prepared speech right on the tip of his tongue, when suddenly, Louis’ Sheikah Slate begins to beep angrily.

“Wait, sorry.” Louis glances at the screen and sighs. “It’s her. I have to take this.”

“Of course.” Zayn tries not to let his face fall as Louis steps away, tapping at the screen. He can hear the princess’s voice coming through, distant and garbled.

“Yeah, I’m here,” Louis’s saying before he pauses. “Yes. Yes, I—I was going to come right back.” Another pause. “Right now? It’s nearly sunset, Pez, can’t it wait till the morning? What…” Louis winces and closes his eyes, but nods. “Alright. I’ll leave right now. I’ll try to be back before midday tomorrow. Yes. Alright.”

Zayn pretends he wasn’t just eavesdropping and instead busies himself preening his feathers when Louis comes back. “What did she want?”

Louis’ expression looks pained. “She wants me to come back now. Like, right now. So I can return to the castle by midday. But I’ll see you soon. Meet us at the eastern gate of Lanayru Road in five days’ time, yeah?”

Zayn lets out a disappointed warble. “Alright.”

“Hey.” Louis stands up on the balls of his feet, hands pressed to either side of Zayn’s face. “I’ll see you soon. Whatever you had to say can wait, right? It’s only five days.”

“Right.” Zayn swallows thickly, then clears his throat. “I’ll meet you at the gate. The other Champions will be there, too?”

“Yeah, they will. Basically she just wants us all there to see her off and wait for her to come back.” Louis kisses Zayn’s beak. “Bye, Zayn.”

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Zayn says, unable to resist nipping at Louis’ hair.

Instead of getting annoyed like he would have before, Louis just laughs before turning away and running down the path. “No promises.”

Zayn watches him disappear before taking the circlet out and sighing sadly. It can wait.


	7. Chapter 7

Five days later, Zayn makes the trip to Lanayru Road. He arrives just after sunrise to see Gemma and Dua sitting next to one of the pillars, chatting and laughing.

Gemma notices him first. “Zayn’s here!” she calls, waving,

Dua turns to look at him. “Ah, you’ve arrived. Any sign of Ed?”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “How should I know?”

“Don’t get your feathers in a twist.”

They hear Ed arrive before they see him. He’s singing loudly, like always, something about fire on the mountain. Zayn guesses it’s a song from Goron City.

“Hi, Ed!” Gemma waves to him, too. She’s always cheerful, that one. Zayn wonders how. “Is that a new song?”

“Yup!” Ed announces proudly. “Wrote it myself about Death Mountain. I call it ‘I See Fire.’ Want to hear the whole thing?”

Gemma claps. “Yes, please.”

Even Dua smiles. “Let’s hear it.”

So Ed sings to them, pounding out a rhythm on the rocks to keep time. It’s a haunting tune, with lyrics seeming to foretell some kind of destruction. Zayn isn’t sure how he feels about such a song, with Ganon due to attack any day now.

But apparently he’s the only one disturbed by it, because Gemma and Dua both start clapping the moment Ed finishes.

“Ed, that was beautiful! You’ll have to sing it for us next time you come to the Domain,” Gemma tells him. “You know who would love it? My little brother, the prince.”

“Harry, right?” Ed beams. “How’s he doing? Getting big?”

“You should see him! He’s been jumping off Shatterback Point because he saw Louis do it…”

Zayn tunes them out, and it seems Dua does, too. “How are things with Louis?” she asks him.

Zayn’s feathers ruffle up slightly. “Louis? Why do you ask?”

Dua laughs, shaking her head. “Come on, Zayn. We all know you two are courting.”

“We’re not courting.”

“Well, seeing each other. Hooking up. Whatever you want to call it, you’re involved somehow. You know you and him are just about the talk of Hyrule,” Dua says with a knowing look. “And I know you went all the way to Kara Kara Bazaar for a ruby circlet.”

Zayn flaps one wing in irritation. “How do you know that?”

“I’m friends with Hayley. You know, the woman you bought it from.” She grins at him. “Now, I don’t know exactly what you Rito define as courting, but I’d say giving someone jewelry is a pretty big step.”

“How do you know it’s not for me?”

“You’re not wearing it, birdbrain.”

Oh. Well. That is true. Zayn can’t think of a retort, poofing up even more, which sends Dua into a fit of laughter.

Gemma notices and starts giggling too. “Zayn! You’re so flustered!”

“Ed, help me!” Zayn complains.

Ed takes one look at him and bursts into a hearty laugh. “Nah, mate, you’re just too funny,.”

That’s how Perrie and Louis find them, sitting on the ground and laughing at Zayn’s expense. How rude, honestly. Zayn springs to his feet and inclines his head when he sees Perrie’s white steed approach them. “Princess.”

“Zayn, always a pleasure to see you,” Perrie greets him. Louis rides slightly behind her and beams when he sees Zayn. Ever the dutiful knight, he dismounts first, offering a hand to help Perrie do the same. Fuck, all Zayn wants to do is preen his soft hair, but that would be inappropriate. And the other Champions would never let him hear the end of it. Perrie talks quietly with Gemma, Dua, and Ed, leaving Zayn free to pull Louis to the side, ignoring the look Dua throws in their direction.

“I didn’t do anything stupid,” Louis tells him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Before I left, you told me not to do anything stupid.” Louis grins, almost wolfishly. “I didn’t.”

“Am I supposed to congratulate you?”

Louis laughs and plants a kiss on the end of Zayn’s beak, laughing harder when Zayn’s feathers poof up. “Nah, this is enough.”

“Zayn? Louis?” Perrie calls them over.

“Yes, Princess?” Louis is at her side in a flash.

“Louis, I need you to accompany me to the Spring of Courage at the peak of Mount Lanayru,” Perrie says. “Zayn, you and the other Champions are to stay here and patrol the area. If you see anything, tell us right away. Or—rather, tell Louis.”

Zayn nods his assent, and sees the other Champions do the same. Louis, meanwhile, changes into a warmer tunic and wraps a cloth around his neck. If only Zayn had time to give Louis the ruby circlet…it would help him stay warm on top of the mountain. But now is definitely the wrong time. “I will. Be safe.”

“We will be.” Louis’ face is stony as he counts the arrows in his quiver.

Zayn should be going with them. His feathers are insulated, the product of thousands of years of adapting to the chilly Tabantha region. All he can do is take the reins of Louis’ horse, tying the steed to a tree by the lake so it can drink.

“Shall we be off, then?” Perrie says.

Louis just nods, and the two of them begin the long journey up the mountain.

There’s not much for the four of them to do while they wait. Perrie and Louis could be up there for days, for all they know. Ed sings them more tunes he says he wrote, different ones about courting and heartbreak. Gemma practices with her trident, her practiced motions like flowing water. Zayn circles overhead, scanning the surrounding areas for any signs of trouble, but all is clear.

“Zayn,” Gemma says when he lands after his eighth sky patrol. “Dua was telling me you’ve been courting Louis?”

Zayn groans, dramatically covering his face with one wing. “Please, Gemma, Not now.”

“You and Louis?” Ed asks. Well, it’s nice to know there’s at least _one_ person in Hyrule who hasn’t heard all the details.

They’re all looking at him, so he can’t escape now. Sighing, he sits on the ground. “Well, what haven’t you heard?”

He ends up telling them everything—how irritated he’d been at Louis when they first met, how they slowly came to learn each other’s histories, and how Elder Brannan had offered to marry them. He glosses over their trysts, but Dua’s smirk tells him she knows. It’s a strange feeling, opening up about something so deeply personal, but it feels…nice. Like these are definitely people he can trust with this part of him.

Gemma coos when he tells them how close he came to proposing just days ago. “Oh, that’s a pity, Zayn! You should propose to him as soon as possible. There’s no telling when Ganon will emerge. Elder Brannan was right.”

“You should propose when he returns from the mountain,” Ed suggests. “I have a love song to sing, if that would help, you know, set the mood.”

Dua jabs an elbow into Zayn’s side. “Show us the circlet.”

“He probably doesn’t have it!” Gemma says.

“Actually…” Zayn ignores how poofy his feathers are as he fishes the jewelry out of his pocket and holds it out for them all to see.

“Oh, that is precious!” Gemma fawns, reaching out to touch the pear-cut ruby. “He’ll look so beautiful in that.” She looks up at Zayn, a small smile on her face. “You really love him, don’t you?”

“They’re back!” Ed announces suddenly. Zayn shoves the circlet back in his pocket and follows Ed’s pointing finger. Louis and Perrie walk side by side, Perrie’s hands clasped in front of her. She doesn’t look happy, her shoulders rounded and hunched like she’s trying to curl up and disappear.

“Princess Perrie!” Ed booms as the pair near. “How did it go?”

“Ed, give her a moment,” Gemma chides him. “Perrie, please don’t take this the wrong way, but you look a bit…poorly.”

“I’m fine,” Perrie says unconvincingly.

Zayn doesn’t miss the fact that the princess won’t meet any of their eyes. “You didn’t feel anything at all?”

“No, nothing at all, Zayn,” Perrie bites out at him. “I tried my best, but nothing happened.”

“Then let’s not harp on it,” Dua says, glaring at Zayn. Zayn opens his beak to retort, but Dua keeps talking, placing a comforting hand on Perrie’s shoulder. “No one’s saying you haven’t tried, Princess. But it’s not your fault.”

“That’s very kind of you to say, Dua,” Perrie says, deflating once again. “I just feel so useless. Here you all are, you’re the best warriors from every corner of Hyrule and—and all I do is sit in my study and read and I still can’t do anything!”

“That’s not true,” Gemma protests. “You’ve put just as much work in as the rest of us.”

“Gemma, you don’t have to lie.” Perrie smiles, but her eyes are watery.

“You have a role to play in this, just like all of us do,” Dua says. “We might not know exactly what it is right now, but you’ll find it. I know you will.”

Oh, well now everyone’s just sucking up. Zayn keeps his beak shut, and he notices Louis looking at him with an unreadable expression of his own. He pulls him away from the group.

“Be honest. Do you really think she can do it?” Zayn asks, voice low so they won’t be overheard.

Louis just shrugs. “She’s been trying.”

“Trying won’t seal Ganon away.”

“What do you expect her to do? Her father’s no help at all,” Louis replies. “She’s a descendant of the Goddess. Which means her power _has_ to awaken. Right?”

Zayn’s no expert on the subject, but he would have thought such a power should awake sooner than this. But what does he know? “Naïve, the both of you,” he mutters instead, thoughts turning to the plan for the battle. “Now listen. I’m still not keen on you being all alone in that castle when we launch the attack.”

“Aw, did you want to be in there with me?” Louis’ tone is impish, and Zayn rewards it with a light whack in the head.

“No, you insufferable twit,” he says, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice. How funny it was, that the names they used to call each other in genuine ire had become terms of endearment. “I just don’t think it’s a good idea to send such an unqualified warrior in while the rest of us are so far away. After all, I am—”

“The most skilled archer of all the Rito.” Louis finishes his sentence with a smile. “I know. We all know. You’ve said it a million times. You know, you could just say you’re worried about me.”

“That would be a lie.” It sort of is. Zayn has no doubt, after seeing Louis’ combat abilities, that he’ll be able to hold his own. But his protective nature makes him worry. It’s only natural.

Suddenly, a terrible roar splits the air, shaking the ground they’re all standing on. Perrie stumbles into Louis, who catches her but in turn falls into Zayn.

Zayn catches them both. “Be careful,” he scolds them, before summoning his gale to propel him into the sky. The sight that greets him is nothing short of horrifying.

Black thunderclouds swirl around the castle, inky tendrils curling around the turrets. And in the middle of it all, the evil magenta monster rears its ugly head. Fuck. They’re fucked. He lands with a heavy _thump_ to deliver the bad news. “He’s here and he’s coming from inside the castle.”

Dua snaps her fingers, springing into lieutenant mode and ordering them all to their respective Divine Beasts. Gemma dives into the lake, swimming off to Zora’s Domain while Ed rolls into a ball to follow Dua down the path. Then Zayn’s left alone with Perrie and Louis,

“We should get you to safety,” he says to the princess.

“No! I know I’ve been useless this whole time, but there must be something I can do now!” Perrie insists.

If Zayn had eyebrows, he’d be raising them. What could she possibly do? Her sealing power hasn’t awoken. What’s she going to do, spew knowledge at the Calamity to make it disappear?

“Stay with me, then,” Louis says, already drawing his bow.

“You’re going to bring the princess into the heart of the Calamity?” Zayn says in disbelief. Louis does some stupid things sometimes, but he’d expected the Hylian to know better than _this._ “That’s just—”

Louis doesn’t finish his sentence this time, instead cutting him off so curtly it has Zayn starting, unused to such a harsh tone directed at him. “I know what you’re about to say. Don’t say it.” He turns to the princess then, telling her to stay with him on the way to the castle.

Perrie nods and agrees. “Zayn, you should go, too,” she reminds him.

Right. He has a Divine Beast to pilot. A Calamity to destroy. A Hero to support. “I will.” He looks at Louis, meeting the Hylian’s sky blue eyes. He refuses to say goodbye. When this is all over, he’ll take Louis up to Vah Medoh’s perch at the peak of the rock above Rito Village and propose properly. They just have to get rid of this thing standing between them first. “Good luck, then. To both of you.” With that, he launches himself into the sky and soars away, heading for Vah Medoh.


	8. Chapter 8

Vah Medoh is a mess.

When Zayn alights on the deck of the Divine Beast, he finds the entire thing covered in Calamity Ganon’s Malice. It’s spread over the beast, coating nearly every inch of the floors and walls in the sickly glowing stuff. It seems alive, almost, bubbling and hissing at him when he gets close. “What the fuck?” Zayn mumbles to himself, rushing to the main control unit. Maybe he can avoid the Malice just long enough to fly Medoh toward the castle and blast the Calamity into oblivion.

But the moment he touches the panel, the entire beast gives a mighty shudder, so strong it knocks Zayn off his feet with the force of an explosion and he goes tumbling. And then he hears the roar.

It’s a terrible sound, guttural and bone-chilling; it’s the most evil thing he’s ever heard. And when he looks up, he sees it.

The Malice has taken shape to form a massive misshapen incarnation of Ganon, easily twenty feet in height, screeching and wailing and wielding a blade as long as it is tall.

He can fight this. He can totally fight this. He summons his gale, soaring into the air high above the monster, and fires his bow, loosing three arrows at a time. They hit their mark, the explosive-tipped arrows landing on the monster’s face, but they hardly seem to slow it down. Instead, they seem to make it angrier; it roars and swipes at Zayn with a giant, nebulous hand. He darts away, tucking his wings in close to control his movements as he circles it, trying to clear his mind. _Think, Malik, just think!_ he screams at himself. He looses another volley of arrows at its back, waiting for it to turn around before flying away and shooting at its front again.

He realizes too late that he’s gotten too close.

He has no idea what’s causing it or how it’s happening, but the monster seems to be manipulating the air currents, and this close, Zayn gets sucked into a mini tornado it’s creating around itself. At the last second, he tucks his wings in and drops to the ground, right in front of the control terminal. Starting to genuinely worry now, he smacks a few buttons to send out the distress signal. Instantly, another one comes back. Gemma. And then a third, and then a fourth. The control panel lights up like a fallen star fragment, the various distress calls coming through the squeaky radio and Zayn’s blood runs cold once he realizes what that means.

He’s on his own. Which, really, is exactly what he’d wanted when this whole thing first began, but now…now he wishes more than anything that Louis could be by his side.

So he puts up the best fight he can, knowing he can’t get too close or risk losing control of the wind again. But the monster—the Windblight, as he calls it in his mind—is just too strong. Eventually, he runs out of arrows, and the Windblight realizes this. It raises its arms with a horrifying screech, building up a veritable cyclone that Zayn can’t fly out of, no matter how hard he flaps his wings. The wind buffets his body, knocking him off balance and sending him spiraling, to crash on the ground once again, handing hard on his left wing.

“Fuck!” he screams, struggling back to his feet and hoping his wing isn’t damaged too badly. But he’s too slow to rise.

He can’t stop it. He sees the blade come down, and in that moment he understands what it means to have his life literally flash before his eyes.

He sees his mother, wrapping him up in her wings before flying off to the Hebra Mountains, never to be seen again.

He sees the Flight Range, sees himself hitting target after target to set the all-time record.

He sees the clouds above him as he shoots skyward and laughs triumphantly as he realizes he’s perfected his gale.

He sees the princess’s look of relief when he agrees to be the Champion.

And he sees Louis, in sharp detail—sees the soft angles of his face, his tousled hair, his crystalline eyes. He sees Louis’ hands holding his wing, sees his scowl and his smirk. He sees his fond smile and for a second he swears he can feel the ghostly touch of Louis’ lips to his beak.

It’s not the worst thing to experience before he dies.


	9. Chapter 9

Zayn is dead.

“Not dead,” Dua’s voice echoes in his head. “Still sort of alive.”

Moments after the Windblight’s blade came down on him, he saw a blinding light, and then found he could open his eyes once more.

The blight was gone, though he could still feel its evil presence possessing Vah Medoh. He struggled to his feet and looked down at himself, only to realize he was no longer solid. Instead, he existed as a glowing green image of himself. “Like a ghost,” Ed had said.

“But it’s not all bad,” Gemma had added. They found that they could still communicate with each other, as though through some kind of mental telepathy. So together, the four of them piece together the story of what had happened on that fateful day.

Ganon had corrupted every Divine Beast, and all the other Champions suffered the same fate Zayn did. But until Ganon’s evil creations are destroyed, all four of their spirits are bound to this realm, destined to hover between the living and the dead. They can’t leave the machines until Calamity Ganon is sealed away for good, but at least the blights show no interest in them now that they’re dead.

The only things Zayn can do are wander the innards of Vah Medoh and watch over Rito Village from high above. It’s a strange feeling, to know he’ll be here for a long time and yet not know how long that will be. And more often than not, his thoughts turn to Louis.

He had learned from Gemma that Louis made his last stand near Fort Hateno. Limping and bleeding from a deep wound in his left arm but never one to give up, he faced down a Guardian Stalker, raising the Master Sword—but Perrie stepped between them at the last second, and finally, the power of the Goddess that flowed within her manifested in a blinding ray of light that wiped out every Guardian in the field. Louis collapsed then, on the edge of death, and Perrie ordered him to be taken to the Shrine of Resurrection, where he would rest until woken by the Goddess once more.

Zayn wonders if Louis knows of his fate. If Louis knows what happened to all of the Champions. The ruby circlet he’d bought for Louis taunts him, lying deep in the belly of Vah Medoh, but without a corporeal form, he can’t pick it up.

Some things don’t change. Ed still composes songs that he sings to them, Dua still grouses about being defeated, and Gemma watches her younger brother grow up. But nothing can fill the Louis-shaped hole left in his chest.

A hundred years pass like this.

~

One day, as he’s hovering above Medoh’s beak watching the sun rise, Gemma kicks up a fuss over their telepathic bond. “Zayn! Ed! Dua! He’s back!”

“What are you talking about?” Zayn grumbles.

“Louis!”

That gets Zayn’s attention. “Louis?”

“Yes, Louis! He’s awoken from the Shrine!” Gemma exclaims.

“Holy Hylia, he’s going to set things right again!” Ed booms.

“He couldn’t have woken up a little sooner?” Zayn grouses.

“How do you know?” Dua asks.

“He came back to the Domain! I can see him from here!” Gemma says. “Harry met him at Inogo Bridge, and they’re meeting with my mother right now. I wish I could hear what they’re saying…but I can see them, at least.”

“Keep us updated, Gemma,” Dua says. “And try to communicate with him. I’m not sure if he’ll be able to hear you, but it’s worth a try.”

“Yeah, I’d like to know what’s going on in the rest of Hyrule,” Ed adds. “All I can see from here is Goron City, which is nice, but I wonder sometimes about the rest of the land.”

“Zayn?” Gemma asks. “Is there anything you’d like me to tell him?”

Zayn huffs, folding his wings. “No. Everything I have to say to him, I can say when he visits me himself.”

“Suit yourself.” Gemma disappears then, going quiet, and the others say no more. Zayn looks out over Hyrule, spread out far below him. What he wouldn’t give to see Louis just one more time.

~

Gemma delivers the bad news the next day.

“Zayn…he lost his memory.”

“What in Hylia’s name does that mean?”

“It means exactly whatI said.” Gemma’s frowning, he can tell. “He woke up with amnesia, basically. He…hardly even remembered me when he boarded Vah Ruta and I first spoke to him.”

Zayn can feel his heart sinking, but grasps at the one small detail that gives him hope. “But he remembered some things?”

“He said he could recall two memories of me. The first was some random day when he and I were sitting up by Ruta’s Mountain and I was healing his arm, and the second was coming back down Mount Lanayru with the princess.” She pauses. “The day we found out Ganon had risen again.”

Zayn mulls that over. He wonders if their love was strong enough to stay with Louis, for him to remember even after all this time and everything he’d been through.

The day after brings good news and bad news. He asks for the good news first.

“He tamed Vah Ruta!” Gemma tells him with glee in her voice. “The torrential rains have stopped, and my people are safe.”

“So what’s the bad news?”

Gemma waffles for a moment. “It’s—well, actually—right, you have to promise you won’t get mad at me, I mean, I’m just the messenger here—”

“Gemma!”

“He’s courting Harry.” It comes out in a rush, and Zayn goes silent. He doesn’t even breathe.

“Zayn?” Gemma asks.

Zayn finally takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and trying to keep his voice even. “He what?”

“He’s courting Harry. Zayn, I’m so sorry, I didn’t want to tell you, but I didn’t want you to be surprised when he came to you and oh, Hylia, I—”

“Did they fuck?”

“Zayn!”

“Did they?”

Gemma hesitates before saying, “What good is knowing?”

That’s as good as a yes. He tunes her out, stomping to the edge of Vah Medoh’s wingtip and wrapping his wings around himself sullenly.

Louis and Harry. Harry, Gemma’s little brother, the crown prince of the Zora. Louis is courting Harry. Which means Louis either moved on or forgot about him. Neither option feels any better than the other. There’s a lump in Zayn’s throat that he refuses to acknowledge, even when a sad trill escapes him.

And then he can’t stop, warbling lowly as he tries to push away the thought of Louis with somebody else, the lonely sounds echoing into the night.

~

For the next week, Zayn doesn’t talk to the other Champions, despite their constant attempts to ask him if he’s okay. How is he supposed to be okay after that information? He’s spent the last century missing Louis.

He stops venturing into the depths of Vah Medoh, because if he does, he’ll see the ruby circlet still lying there, gathering dust.

~

Two weeks later, Ed reaches out to Zayn. “Mate, there’s something you might want to know.”

“Knowing makes everything worse,” Zayn mutters.

“No, it’s good. Well, it could be.” Ed pauses, as though waiting for Zayn to object. “I think he’s starting to remember more and more. When I spoke to him, he said he recalled something about me when he was in Goron City. So maybe…maybe when he comes to Rito Village, he’ll remember you.”

It sounds too good to be true. But Zayn stupidly clings to that shred of hope. “Maybe.”

~

Louis arrives at the bridge to Rito Village at daybreak. The scene is achingly similar to the last time he showed up at the village. Only now, Zayn can’t swoop down to see him, can’t curl his wings around him and preen his hair and tell him off for being an idiot on his adventures.

Instead, he just watches Louis look up at Vah Medoh, startled, as the beast lets out a grating mechanical screech.

~

Zayn can see the Flight Range from here, which has been his main source of entertainment for the last hundred years. He likes watching the young Rito train and try to break his records, likes knowing they’re using his gift as it should be used. He’s been keeping an eye on one Rito in particular named Liam, the only one in the last century who seems like he might come close to beating Zayn’s own achievements. He never does, usually coming up a dozen or so targets short. But it’s fun to watch him try.

On the day Louis arrives back in Rito Village, Zayn watches him make his way to the Flight Range to find Liam. They chat for a while, and Zayn wishes he could hear their words. Then, Louis grabs a bow and his paraglider—not the one Zayn had made for him, he notes—and jumps off the platform.

They had trained together countless times in that very range, and though Zayn was once loath to admit it, Louis’s skills with a bow were second only to his own. And it seems that hasn’t changed at all, even after a hundred years. Louis breaks Liam’s records, hitting bullseye after bullseye, and Zayn’s chest feathers puff up with pride.

Maybe Ed was right. Maybe Louis’ memory is coming back, and maybe…maybe Louis remembers him now.

~

Louis doesn’t remember him.

Zayn blames Ed and Gemma for getting his hopes up, even though he knows it’s no one’s fault but his own.

Liam drops Louis off at the entrance to Vah Medoh, wishing him luck before heading back to the village to patch himself up. Louis is left alone to tap his Sheikah Slate to the pedestal. Zayn should probably say something.

He has so _much_ to say, is the thing, so many questions to ask, but he’s afraid of all the answers. So he blurts out the first thing he can think of.

“I’d know that face anywhere.”

Louis looks around, seemingly startled. Zayn can’t blame him. He can only speak to Louis, can’t risk materializing even in this spirit form. With the Hylian warrior around, the blight inside this beast will be even more aggressive, and Zayn really wouldn’t like to be around for that.

“Me?” Louis asks the air. “Are you…are you Zayn?”

Zayn scoffs. “No, I’m Princess Perrie. _Yes_ , I’m Zayn. I can’t believe you’d forget me.”

“Yeah, okay, apparently we fucked once and that’s all I remember.” Is that a blush on Louis’ cheeks? “Elder Brannan wouldn’t tell me anything else. Are you going to help me out, then?”

“Why? You’ve already gotten through two of these. And besides, you don’t deserve any help. You made me wait a hundred years.” Zayn’s being stupid and childish, he knows, but he can’t help it. Seeing Louis this close but with this much distance between them _hurts_ , hurts more than dying the first time. 

“Holy Hylia.” Louis scoffs, shaking his head. “Was I that terrible of a fuck? Why do you hate me?”

“Hate you?” Zayn can’t believe this. He wants to say that he doesn’t hate Louis, not at all, could never hate Louis even if he made him wait a million years. He wants to scream at him that he fucking loved him, even though he was an idiot sometimes, loved him so much that Zayn almost proposed but never got the chance. He wants to take Louis by the shoulders and shake him and tell him that he never stopped loving him, even after all this time.

But he can’t throw all that in Louis’ face. It’s not his fault the slumber erased his memories, and it wouldn’t be fair, to either of them. All Zayn can do is follow him and help him. “Ugh, fine. Head inside and there’s a Guidance Stone straight across the chasm. Try not to fall.”

Louis finds the Guidance Stone with ease, and once he figures out how the Divine Beast works, it doesn’t take him very long to start activating the terminals. Zayn won’t say he’s proud, because he knows Louis’ skills and never stopped doubting him. But he can say he watches Louis navigate with a smile on his face. He feeds him small encouragements with each terminal he activates, laughing to himself as Louis rolls his eyes each time.

But then Louis finds the ruby circlet.

Zayn hasn’t gone inside since Gemma’s bad news because he doesn’t want to look at it. But he follows Louis inside without giving it a second thought, and when he sees it, his breath catches.

It’s probably gathered so much dust by now, lying abandoned in an alcove with one of the terminals. Which means naturally, Louis finds it. And picks it up, because he’s fucking nosy like that.

It feels like a stab in the chest when Louis pockets it like it’s nothing more than an interesting little trinket.

And Zayn knows it’s irrational to be mad. Louis doesn’t know what it means. Louis doesn’t even know what they were.

Oh, well. At least Zayn can keep him warm, even if it’s only this way.

~

Zayn won’t say he’s surprised that Louis bests the Windblight. He is a little taken aback at how quickly Louis does it, though. But it doesn’t matter. Finally, the beast is slain, writhing around on the deck until it explodes in a burst of purple Malice and disappears.

“Well, it’s about damn time,” Zayn says, alighting next to the main control unit behind Louis.

Louis gasps and whirls around. Fuck, he’s too beautiful up close. His cheeks, nose, and tips of his ears are tinted pink from the cold, but he looks good. Healthy and strong, just like Zayn remembers him. “A hundred years.” He sighs. “You made me wait a hundred years.”

“I’ve been a little busy.”

“Yeah, busy fucking the Zora prince,” Zayn mutters, trying to keep the bitterness from his voice.

If Louis hears it, he doesn’t say anything. “How does every single person in Hyrule know about that?”

“Gemma told me,” Zayn says smugly. “We can still communicate with each other. She told me all about how you pestered her in Vah Ruta, asking how emotionally available her brother is.”

“Sorry to one-up you, but he’s got two dicks.”

“Quality over quantity.” Is Zayn really standing here having a conversation with Louis about dicks? Specifically about Zora dicks? Good Goddess.

Louis blushes, his cheeks turning even pinker. “Whatever. I’m here now and Windblight Ganon is gone, so. Job done.”

“Oh, great, you only managed to do the job you were supposed to do a hundred years ago. Would you like a ceremony and a set of commemorative silverware?”

For a moment, neither of them say anything, and Zayn wonders if he’s gone too far. A hundred years ago, Louis would laugh and call Zayn some equally sarcastic name, but this Louis…Zayn isn’t sure.

“You know I would have stopped this if I could.” Louis’ voice is soft, apologetic, almost, and Zayn can’t have that.

“I do.” He shuts his eyes, taking a deep breath. “Being dead is just really annoying.”

“Tell me about it.”

Zayn shakes his head. “So you really are the princess’s last hope,” he mutters. “Goddess, we’re all going to perish.”

Louis gives him a look, blue eyes glittering with mischief. “You already did, so what do you care?”

There’s his Louis. Zayn smiles, a warmth blossoming in his chest that he forces himself to tamp down. “Just get lucky again, is what I’m saying. By the way, where’s the Master Sword?”

“I have to find it.”

Zayn rolls his eyes. “Did you fucking lose the Master Sword, you imbecile?”

“No!” Louis shouts. “I just don’t have it.”

Zayn realizes Perrie must have put it in Korok Forest for safekeeping. It makes sense, but why wouldn’t they have buried it with Louis? “You’re telling me they buried that fuckass piece of technology with you, but not the Master Sword?” he asks, pointing to the Sheikah Slate attached to Louis’ hip. “How…”

“Asinine.” Louis finishes his sentence, smiling. “Like you, for dying in here.”

“I suppose I deserved that.”

“And I suppose you owe me a special ability.”

Oh, now he’s getting bold. It only makes Zayn miss him more. “I’m seriously considering not giving it to you just because you’re being such a twat right now.”

“Gemma and Ed gave me theirs. You want them to yell at you?”

“Ugh.” Zayn flaps his wings, irritated. “Impatient as always.” The green light surrounding him glows brighter as he spreads his wings. “I hereby bestow upon you my most prized ability, Zayn’s Gale!” he declares, reaching upwards. Green tendrils of light spiral out from his wingtips to curl around Louis, the glowing intensifying. Zayn closes his eyes, not really sure how he’s meant to do this. _He needs this. This is the only way I can help._ Suddenly, the light fades as a column of air currents swirls around Louis’ feet, launching him into the air. Zayn grins as Louis alights with the paraglider.

“This is my ability to create updrafts that allow me to soar,” Zayn tells him. “Don’t use it for stupid shit.”

“No promises,” Louis says with a roguish grin.

“You never were the type to make them in the first place.” Zayn sighs, unable to keep the fondness out of his voice. “Are you done annoying me, then?”

“Shut up, you think I’m great.”

“I think nothing of the sort,” Zayn says with false loftiness. “Now. What I’ll do is take Medoh up to the perch and train her laser at that calamity. Once she lands, the Rito will know she’s been freed, and then they’ll love you and make your ego even worse.”

“Small price to pay for defeating Ganon, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I suppose.” Zayn can’t help a smile. “Go back to the village. Can’t have you falling off this thing.”

“Aw, you do care.”

Zayn’s had quite enough at this point, thank you. The banter comes back easier than breathing, but with every moment Louis spends standing there, the ache in Zayn’s chest only hurts more. “Keep talking and I won’t.”

Louis just laughs and runs to the edge of the Divine Beast. “Let’s fuck up Ganon!” And with that, he jumps off.

“What the—Louis, you idiot!” Zayn yells, watching as Louis uses his gale to soar even higher. “I said not to use it for stupid shit!”

“And I said, no promises!”

Zayn shakes his head. “Louis, you have no idea.”

~

Louis fights, and Louis wins. Zayn expects nothing less. He fires Vah Medoh’s laser at the darkness from high above, heart full and a smile on his face as he watches Louis face down Calamity Ganon and come out victorious. He can’t help an excited whoop as he watches the beast fall and Princess Perrie emerge from the castle, finally free from evil’s grasp.

“Guys!” Gemma gasps. “Do you know what this means?”

“The darkness is sealed away!” Ed cheers.

“That, and our spirits are free,” Dua adds.

Zayn’s face falls. “You mean…”

“We can finally move on. We’re no longer tied to these machines,” Dua says. “I don’t know about any of you, but I think I’m ready to move on.”

“I’ve always wondered what my next life will be,” Ed muses. “I’m ready to find out.”

“Me, too.”

“Oh. That’s…nice,” Zayn says unconvincingly.

“Zayn, you don’t sound happy,” Gemma notes.

He sighs, hugging his wings close to his body and roosting near a pillar. “I’m not ready to go,” Zayn whispers. “I don’t want to go yet. I never wanted to.”

“We have to,” Dua tells him gently. “There’s nothing here for us anymore.”

“There’s so much left,” he says, a bitter edge to his words. “There’s so much…so much I wanted to do, and see, and—fuck, there was so much of this life left. For all of us.”

“But think about what you did get to do, and see, and accomplish. You should be proud of yourself, Zayn,” Gemma chimes in. “And I know your parents would be proud of you, too.”

Zayn exhales slowly, closing his eyes. His thoughts go to Louis, who’s somewhere in front of the ruins of the castle with Princess Perrie. Who’s probably not thinking of him right now. Who he’d give all the precious gems in Hyrule to wrap up in his wings just one more time. “We never even said goodbye. I let him go without telling him much I loved him.”

“But he knew. Trust me, he knew.”

“A life with love is a life that’s been lived,” Ed says sagely, and the rest of them fall quiet. It’s sort of poetic, Zayn supposes, so he says nothing more and just lets his mind run for a bit.

He’s got no idea what his next life holds. All he knows is that he’ll miss this one. He’ll miss watching the young Rito train at the Flight Range, and hearing Ed’s new songs, and even Gemma telling them how Harry’s growing up.

But he also holds out hope that eventually, in another life, in another age, he’ll find his way back to Louis once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you so so much for reading! if you liked it, come visit me on [tumblr](http://humhalleloujah.tumblr.com) and if you really liked it, you can reblog the fic post [here](https://humhalleloujah.tumblr.com/post/178776398986/melodies-and) x


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